And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and cried, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely possessed by a demon." But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying after us." He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." And he answered, "It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly. 

1.  "Have Mercy On Me, O Lord."  Why does God permit difficulty in our life? It is not perhaps to give us the opportunity to examine our false airs of greatness, break our pretentious pride, and turn to him? We need to be brought back to reality from time to time, awoken from our slumber of indifference and self-sufficiency. God permits us to come face-to-face with challenges and difficulties to force us to face ourselves and reality, and seek the truth. Trouble brews in our life when we begin to invert reality: we live our own lives, apart from God. We want God to come to us begging for our time, our talents? We give to him the scraps, and then feel pretty good about ourselves. Difficulty is a real gift of God, when it gives us the tools to change our hearts. 

This woman is an admirable example. In her desperate situation, she knows that there is no human hope for her daughter, and turns to Christ for help. Before her plight, she turns to God, recognizes the reality of who she is, who God is, and begs for help. 

2.  "He Did Not Answer Her." Christ's heart must have been deeply moved by her plight, as we see further on when he immediately healed her daughter. But he wanted to use the opportunity to give to this woman something greater than even the life of her daughter: an increase in faith. Christ pretends to deny her, so that her desire can grown, her petition become more ardent, and her faith purified. Why doesn't Christ give me the answers I request right away? Is it maybe because he wants me to grow in faith, and reassess how much I really value and want what I am requesting?  

One of the greatest obstacles to prayer is lack of faith, which is less a declared incredulity, than a lack of conviction that God is really listening, or a real desire to obtain what I request. Do I really want what I request from God? Am I ready to live with the consequences? 

3.  "Her Daughter Was Healed Instantly." Why didn't Christ heal the girl immediately, but only after such a long and seemingly troublesome interchange with the mother? We see between the lines that there is more to prayer than my requesting and God granting. There is the conversion and purification of the heart. There is test of intentions. There is probing of the soul. Do I really mean what I say? Am I ready to do anything and everything to obtain what I request for in prayer? Or do I pray so that Christ can satisfy my pride, my vanity, my comfort? The infinite and efficacious power of Christ the Lord is tapped only when there is humble prayer, full of confidence, detachment and humility. 

Conversation: Lord Jesus, this woman's example is an invitation for me to consider my own attitude before you. She did not give into discouragement or resign herself to a defeatist attitude in her need. Rather, she turned to you in hope and confidence. Help me, Lord, to turn to you, and never seek to solve my problems alone. Increase my faith. Help me have that hopeful persistence in seeking you out. How often I come to pray, and do not really mean what I say. How often, my Lord, I say the words, but really do not grasp what they signify. Help me, Lord Jesus, to pray from my heart.

Questionnaire 

1. How persistent am I in prayer? Am I convinced of what I say to the Lord? 

2. Do difficulties cause me to be more emphatic in the exercise of my faith, or do I lose heart? Do I give up on God, or do I give up on my pride and self-sufficiency? Whom do I opt for: God or self? 

3. When I request things from God, am I really ready and willing to accept the consequences? Do I really want to know God's will for me? Do I have an unspoken and an unformulated condition that I want it as along as it does not discomfort me too much? Do I ever pray trying only to fulfill the external obligation, but not really intending to surrender myself and my ways to the Lord?